Germany is about the most stringent market in the world when it comes to compliance with regulations – it even has a name: Gründlichkeit.

For the poultry processing company Borgmeier it is therefore second nature to respect all the strict requirements concerning hygiene, animal welfare and quality. Marel Stork Poultry Processing solutions help achieve this, as shown by our latest project, the advanced CAS SmoothFlow stunner.

H. Borgmeier Gmbh & Co Kg is located in Delbrück near Paderborn, still on the same piece of land originally bought by Heinrich Borgmeier in 1903. His son took over in 1948 and built the first processing plant in 1959, which reached a capacity of 3,000 broilers per day in the seventies.

“Unthinkable capacities”

Since 1980 grandsons Heiner and Werner Borgmeier have been running the business. “In 1998 we bought our first Marel Stork equipment, a GP container system,” says Heiner Borgmeier. “We still remember the times that capacities higher than 10,000 bph were unthinkable. And now our current plant is running at 13,000 bph and able to handle higher line speeds in the future.”

Porsche and Volkswagen

The choice for Marel Stork solutions was clear. Werner Borgmeier says, ”Marel Stork equipment gives us great confidence. The machines run very reliably. It’s like comparing a Porsche to a Volkswagen: both cars can run 120km/h, but it’s the quality that makes the difference.”

Stunning in the picture

Controlled Atmosphere Stunning has widely gained acceptance as being animal-friendly. “Regulations, animal welfare organizations and consumers all require an explicit description of how the broilers are stunned. It’s becoming an extremely important issue, so we do not want any arguments about this process.”

We can now tell our customers that we’re using the best technical solution in the market, the Stork CAS SmoothFlow, to respond to the animal welfare demands
- Heiner Borgmeier, General Manager H. Borgmeier GmbH

Reliable machines

It is Borgmeier’s philosophy to deliver only to professional quality traders, butchers and wholesale, not to discounters.

Germany is the main market for Borgmeier and these customers mainly buy fillets. “The demand for sized products keeps growing every day. As broilers get heavier, fillets also increase in weight. So we need more cuts which are accurately calibrated and sorted. These jobs require completely reliable machines and that’s why we have chosen Marel equipment such as the I-Cut 21 in combination with the SpeedSort, the TSM Template Slicing Machine and the new SmartLine Grader.”

Efficiency, reliability, cleanability

Processing machinery shouldn’t become too sensitive or complex, says Heiner Borgmeier. “We don’t want sensors to sound alarm bells every five minutes and shut down the system. Nor do we want machines that require qualified technicians every day because they’re so complicated. Marel Stork has really understood this. These machines must run for years and years; consistent and reliable function must be guaranteed. But it’s not just the functionality that counts; efficiency, reliability and cleanability are just as important. In this regard Marel Stork equipment also scores well. Its open construction allows for easy cleaning.

For example, the Compact Grader grading system has just one conveyor belt which needs cleaning. That’s all. Such short cleaning times of course add to the maximum uptime.”

“The Marel Stork designs also cope best with the very high processing speeds which we are facing today,” concludes Werner Borgmeier.

Marel is the leading global provider of advanced equipment, systems and services to the fish, meat and poultry industries. Our brand is among the most respected in the industry. We offer the convenience of a single source to meet our customers’ every need. With offices and subsidiaries in over 30 countries and a global network of more than 100 agents and distributors, we work side-by-side with our customers to extend the boundaries of food processing performance.